Pick the right day
Four of the nine days have a free or near-free admission window — seniors, military, kids, and a canned-goods day. Weekday mornings are calm; Friday and Saturday nights are not.
Frederick County, Maryland · Est. 1822
Nine days on the Midway The 164th Great Frederick Fair
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Days
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Hours
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Minutes
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Friday 18 — Saturday 26 September 2026
797 East Patrick Street · Gates open 4 p.m. opening night, 9 a.m. every day after
Independently run visitor's guide · Not affiliated with the Frederick County Agricultural Society · Official site
Start here
Three decisions, then you're done planning
The fair is nine days long and most of it is free once you're through the gate. What actually changes your day is when you go, how you get in, and what you eat. That's this whole site.
Buy before you drive
Gate admission is $10 online and $15 at the window. A grandstand ticket bought in advance includes gate admission for that day, which quietly makes concert night the cheapest way in.
Know what to eat
Four stands have lines for a reason and everything else is a coin flip. Hemp's Meats, J.B. Seafood, the Root Beer Truck, and the apple dumplings out back.
The programme
Nine days, nine different fairs
Each day carries its own theme, its own crowd, and its own grandstand act. Here's the shape of the week.
| Date | Day theme | Grandstand | Admission note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 18 | Opening Day | Daughtry | Gates 4 p.m. · carnival 5 p.m. |
| Sat 19 | Grange Day | Pop 2000 Tour | Full day, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. |
| Sun 20 | Family Day | Neal McCoy w/ Mark Wills | Sensory-friendly midway, noon–2 p.m. |
| Mon 21 | Canned Food Drive | Truck & Tractor Pull | $5 with a canned donation · seniors free |
| Tue 22 | Midweek | Demolition Derby — Cars | Carload special: $60 for up to 8 |
| Wed 23 | Military Day | Demolition Derby — Trucks | Free with military ID until 6 p.m. |
| Thu 24 | Old Fashion Day | Danny Gokey | Antique car parade · Lunch Bunch |
| Fri 25 | Kids' Day | Let's Sing Taylor! | Free for 18 & under until 5 p.m. |
| Sat 26 | Youth Livestock Sale | Warren Zeiders | Closing night — busiest of the week |
Under the lights
The 2026 Grandstand Bill
Five concerts, two demolition derbies and a tractor pull. Advance tickets include gate admission for that day — worth doing the arithmetic before you buy.
Fri18
Rock
Daughtrywith special guest · doors and opener 6:30 p.m.
Sat19
Pop nostalgia
Pop 2000 TourChris Kirkpatrick · LFO · O-Town · Ryan Cabrera
Sun20
Country
Neal McCoywith Mark Wills · opener 6:30 p.m.
Mon21
Motorsport
Truck & Tractor PullLoud, long, and the best value on the bill
Tue22
Motorsport
Demolition Derby — CarsTraditionally the hardest ticket of the midweek
Wed23
Motorsport
Demolition Derby — Trucks & VansBigger vehicles, shorter heats
Thu24
Contemporary
Danny Gokeywith special guest · opener 6:30 p.m.
Fri25
Tribute
Let's Sing Taylor!A live band celebration of Taylor Swift · pairs with Kids' Day
Sat26
Country
Warren Zeiderswith special guest · closing night · opener 6:30 p.m.
Admit one
What a day actually costs
Gate, parking, rides. Everything else — the livestock barns, the exhibit halls, the harness racing, the free stages — is included once you're inside.
Adult · online
$10Ages 11 and up
Buy in advance and you save five dollars a head before you've parked.
Adult · at the gate
$15Ages 11 and up
The walk-up price. Fine for one person, expensive for a family of five.
Children
FreeAges 10 and under
No ticket needed. Rides are separate — see the wristband options.
Blue Ribbon Bundle
$80Ten admissions, online
Eight dollars a head. Worth it if you're going twice with a group.
The quiet arbitrage
An advance grandstand ticket includes gate admission for the day of the show. A Monday truck pull seat starts at $21 — about eleven dollars more than a plain online admission — and the pull is a two-hour event. On concert nights the maths is even friendlier.
From people who go every year
Eight things worth knowing
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Parking lots A through D are cash only
Ten dollars, cash, no exceptions. Infield parking is fifteen and takes cards. There are ATMs on the grounds, but the queue at 6 p.m. on a Saturday is its own attraction.
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Weekday mornings are a different event
Gates open at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. Before noon the barns are quiet, the exhibitors will talk to you, and you can actually see the home-arts displays without shuffling.
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Sunday noon to 2 p.m. is the low-sensory window
Reithoffer turns the lights and music down on the midway. If loud and flashing is a problem for someone in your group, this is the two-hour window built for you.
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Lunch Bunch gets you in for nothing, Monday to Thursday
11 a.m. to 2 p.m., gate admission is waived — the deal is that you buy lunch on the grounds. Given that you were going to eat anyway, this is the best-value entry of the week.
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Wristbands and gate admission are separate things
A $37 ride wristband does not include getting in or parking. The $35 Jack Pass bundles one gate admission with an all-day wristband, which is the cheaper route if you're riding.
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Tuesday's carload deal is aimed squarely at big families
Sixty dollars covers parking, admission and wristbands for up to eight people on 22 September. Per head that is under eight dollars, rides included.
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Leave the dog at home
Pets are not permitted anywhere on the fairgrounds. Certified service animals in use by a person with a disability are the only exception.
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Rain is not a cancellation
The fair runs in weather. Bring a jacket, wear boots you don't mind, and note that the exhibit halls, the Grandstand cover and the barns are all indoors.
164th
Fair since 1862
9
Days on the grounds
32
Years of Reithoffer rides
1822
Agricultural society founded
Why this site exists
Written by someone who goes
The official fair site is where you buy tickets and read the rules. This one is where you work out whether Tuesday is better than Saturday, what a wristband really covers, and which stand does the apple dumplings.
Everything here is checked against the fair's own published information and dated so you can see how fresh it is. When something changes — and fair schedules do change — the correction lands here first.
Not just watching
The fair is open to enter
Most visitors never realise how much of the fair is competition you can join — or that one whole department has no residency requirement at all.
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Enter the fair
Open class livestock is open to anyone, anywhere. Farm & Garden and Home Arts need no pre-registration. Youth classes run through 4-H, FFA or the fair's own programme.
→Sell at the fair
Around 230,000 visitors across nine days. Booth space runs from 10×10 to forty feet of frontage, indoor or out — and the paperwork starts long before September.
→The midway in full
Every ride price, the wristband-versus-Jack-Pass trap, the sensory-friendly window, and the weekday gap between the gates opening and the rides starting.
Nine days only
See you on the midway
Gates open Friday 18 September at 4 p.m. Bring cash for the parking lot and an appetite for everything else.